[ricardodba]

Hi,

Just wondering What nest box / coop bedding you guys are using for your hens?

As it stands, im just using straw in both nest and coop. I try to keep the nest box with a good thick layer of straw to encourage nesting.

My hens poop in the nest box  ...as well as all over the coop ...is there a way to stop them at least doing it in the nest box?

Cheers.

[Stereo]

For the house I use large flake wood chip. As long as it's kept dry you can put it in deep and if the birds don't turn it over, you can to stop it clagging and it will stay nice for ages, less so in winter. For nest boxes I use a horse bedding product called equinola or something. It's chopped straw, I think with tea tree oil in it. Plain straw is not good as mites can hide inside it. Seems to work well.

Sleeping in nest boxes? I've never found a sensible solution when the nests are in the house where they roost. Some will just do it. I suspect that giving birds roosts from a very early age helps with this, whereas, if they have been sleeping on the floor in their early days, they are likely to continue that idea. You might be able to break the habit by going out after dark and returning them to a roost but in some houses, it's tricky as they can jump back in.

Personally, the answer I have found is to have them lay in a separate house. My birds sleep in one house without nest boxes and I have built simple 'nesters' out of pallets and offcuts where they lay their eggs. Advantages are cleaner eggs as it's easy to move the nester to clean grass. Also if you have broody or a night nester you can go up and pop them back in the house for a few nights which usually breaks the habit as they won't run across a dark field to get back to the nest.

I got this idea when we had a small flock in the garden and they would sleep in the Eglu but lay eggs in the old wooden house we had left there. Eventually we closed off the eglu nest box, took the roosts out of the old house and got nice clean eggs and fewer broodies.  So, consider a detached laying 'box' of some sort. Maybe a cheap old house with the roost bars removed.

[Caroline1]

I use animal wood shavings all over the coop and a layer in the boxes and then put Straw on top. Found the shavings help absorb any liquid and although some poo ends up in there generally lasts a week or 2 before needs changing. (More often in winter).

[ricardodba]

Can normal wood shavings be used?

I was looking at adding some DE to the straw in the nest boxes...or would i be better getting rid of straw all together?
Im thinking in the winter months straw will keep them warmer???

Also, how often are you worming?...and what with?

Cheers.

[mentalmilly]

l use wood shavings in the cop and nest boxes, found that straw encouraged mites so stopped using it. l clean away any droppings every morning, before they spread it al over the place and the bedding lasts for ages.Must be lucky non of my girls pooh in the nest boxes.

[clydesdaleclopper]

Can normal wood shavings be used?

I was looking at adding some DE to the straw in the nest boxes...or would i be better getting rid of straw all together?
Im thinking in the winter months straw will keep them warmer???

Also, how often are you worming?...and what with?

Cheers.

you don't need to keep them warm - they have lots of feathers for that. The main thing is good ventilation so that it doesn't get damp with condensation from their breath when it's cold. i use the chopped hemp horse bedding and that seems to work very well.


for worming I use Flubenvet approx two times per year.

[Marches Farmer]

Can normal wood shavings be used?

I was looking at adding some DE to the straw in the nest boxes...or would i be better getting rid of straw all together?
Im thinking in the winter months straw will keep them warmer???

Also, how often are you worming?...and what with?

I prefer dust-extracted wood shavings - hen's lungs are quite small and easily irritated by excess dust.  I don't use straw - it doesn't absorb moisture well and turns into a claggy carpet with amazing rapidity.  Hens that are well fed and given well-ventilated, dry accommodation out of draughts are perfectly capable of keeping themselves warm.   I worm only free ranging birds, before the main laying period and before Winter kicks in.  If they were on a small area of soil-based ground I would probably do so more frequently.

[sss]

In the nest we use straw. 

Under their roost we use either dry grass cuttings if weather permits or paper shreddings from work.

The old chucks did have a time of sleeping in the nest and making lots of poop. A couple of nights of lifting them back on the roost stopped that.

[Creagan]

I've got two nest boxes in the coop, and have put straw in one and shavings in the other. The girls only ever lay in the one with straw.

[ricardodba]

I've got two nest boxes in the coop, and have put straw in one and shavings in the other. The girls only ever lay in the one with straw.

That's interesting to know...I have just changed to soft wood shavings in both nest and coop and will see how this goes. I also have purchased some lay-soft horse bedding (http://www.lay-soft.co.uk/index.php) which im going try at next clean out.

cheers.

[Rosemary]

I used to use Hemcore now Dengie FreshBed, which is chopped straw. Hemcore was great as it rortted to compost very quickly. Can't seem to get it now 

[clydesdaleclopper]

Rosemary you can get Aubiose which is the same stuff as Hemcore

[Cosmore]

Hemcore was great as it rortted to compost very quickly. Can't seem to get it now 

Pehaps the big picture of the cannabis plant on the packet caused its demise - the police kept raiding the suppliers! .

I very quickly changed from Hemcore to Aubiose simply because I could get it cheaper (I bought in bulk as I had 4 horses stabled at the time), it was the same product and yes, it rotted down quickly mixed with horse urine and poo and produced a marvellous compost. .

[Caroline1]

I've got two nest boxes in the coop, and have put straw in one and shavings in the other. The girls only ever lay in the one with straw.

I have an extra box in both the chickens and the ducks, it also gets a layer of woodshavings, but never gets any eggs laid in them only the ones with straw, maybe it is more comfortable.

[ricardodba]

we've had an egg this morning in the wood shavings...and the smell is so much nicer in the coop...smells fresh :-)